Constitutional Law
Lawyer Who Sued President and Three Justices Targets Obama
Posted Sep 11, 2008 12:41 PM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A Philadelphia lawyer who has sued President Bush and three U.S. Supreme Court justices has filed a new suit against a new high-profile defendant—Barack Obama.
In his latest lawsuit with a political twist, lawyer Philip Berg of Lafayette Hill claims Obama was born in Kenya and he should be thrown off the ballot for lying about his citizenship, the Bucks County Courier Times reports. It also claims he later declared himself a citizen of Indonesia.
Berg’s suit against Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney claimed they had advance notice of the Sept. 11 attacks. His suit against Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Sandra Day O'Connor said they should disbar themselves for deciding Bush v. Gore, Washington Times reports.
Obama has posted his birth certificate showing he was born in Honolulu to dispel rumors that he is not a citizen. “Maybe Mr. Berg should show us his copy of the United States map where Hawaii isn’t a state,” said Obama spokeswoman Ellen Mellody.
Berg is a Hillary Clinton supporter but he says he is not connected with her campaign, the Washington Times story says. His website seeks donations and posts the legal documents.
Critics have also questioned whether Obama’s opponent John McCain is a U.S. citizen because of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone.
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Comments
John Earl
Sep 11, 2008 1:37 PM CST
The suit seems to be yet another Clinton dirty trick except for one item, the Birth Certificate. If Obama were born in Kenya, he would still be a citizen under the law. So, why offer a forged certificate?
Even if the suit is another Clinton dirty trick, Berg may have inadvertently discovered the truth.
This issue should be given a complete airing in the court. The truth is always important; in this instance, the truth is of the highest importance to every citizen and for the continued credibility of this Republic.
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Mark S
Sep 11, 2008 1:49 PM CST
There is an old saying “even a blind squirrel will find an acorn once in a while”. I think Berg has found his acorn.
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Trouble Shooter
Sep 11, 2008 1:55 PM CST
Berg has a great case IF he can back up his claim with hard evidence. Otherwise the HI birth certificate will be a prima facie defense.
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Fred Jones
Sep 11, 2008 4:15 PM CST
This issue would be very easily cleared up if Obama would provide a certified copy of his birth certificate to the court. If he does, and it is shown to be authentic, then it would seem that the matter is closed. If, however, he does not, or otherwise tries to delay the case, then it would appear that something was afoot.
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Ellen Barshevsky
Sep 12, 2008 4:41 AM CST
The reason there is all this political disention is because there are too many MEN fighting for the same jobs. There needs to be more WOMEN on the political slate to calm down these crazies.
Just like McCane chose a woman, Palin, maybe Obama wouldn’t have this problem if he had chosen HILARY as his running mate, to balance the ticket evenly.
I don’t agree with all of the issues, but know that having women in the White House would be a good thing.
Do we really care about a birth certificate?
Come on! I suggest we all take stock of the issues and vote for some more women, since they get things done without all of this litigation. UGH!
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Politrick
Sep 12, 2008 6:16 AM CST
The ABA can not stay out of the presidential race in this newsletter. I like how they throw in a dig about McCain at the end as well. In looking at that link it seems there may be something to that argument, however small.
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John Gear
Sep 12, 2008 9:18 AM CST
The story is incorrect—no one has questioned McCain’s citizenship. They have simply pointed out that he was not born in the United States, one of the few qualifications for the office of president.
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DCM
Sep 12, 2008 1:59 PM CST
A Senate resolution was passed declaring McCain to have met the Constitutional requirements to run for President in 2008. Obama was a co-sponsor of the bill.
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V clone
Sep 12, 2008 9:31 PM CST
About as relevent as declaring that the candidates are from the movie V, 80’s movie.
And if they are, well it is too late.
Damn V was really ahead of its time. Sadly, most were and still asleep.
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J.ferko
Sep 17, 2008 10:45 AM CST
When you add the question of Stanley visiting a friend, who was puzzled that she came with Barak, a newborn, stated that she would not have been coming from Hawaii, but returning to Hawaii, to what is out there on the Birth Certificate and using an Indonesian Passport to go to Pakistan, it sure looks fishy to me. I have even more questions that remain unanswered. Who paid for Obama to go to Harvard for his Law Degree? Was it Khalid al-Mansour? Why did he ask Percy Sutton to write a letter to Harvard on Obama’s behalf? Just what is their connection? Just WHO is Barak Obama?
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Shadynotso
Sep 17, 2008 9:01 PM CST
This can be no more serious. This is not a joke I want to know if the facts BO is hidding! Lots of unanswered questions to the American public. This needs to be clear to me where when and the state he was born in. What would his blood in Kenya have to gain by lies he was born in Kenya? His mother did all this paper trails to protect his future and his sister Maya so that she alone had claim to her son and daughter always. What do people not choose to see? I just want all the TRUTH! So bring on the papers that prove us and Mr. Philip J. Berg wrong. We know that he is hidding the truth….wait and see! Or just step DOWN NOW!!!!
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Pres N. Ilog
Sep 19, 2008 6:26 PM CST
Up to now Barack Obama hasn’t presented solid evidence of his birth in HI. I read that he might have been borne in two different hospitals in HI and neither hospital offered any data or status of his birth such his weight and lenght. Borne in to different hospitals???
And why up to this day there has been no mention in the Main Stream News Media of the case nor in any other news media. It looks like every body is covering Barack Obama!!!
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Tes
Sep 19, 2008 7:35 PM CST
Oh my, this is fascinating. A few points.
***” Berg has a great case IF he can back up his claim with hard evidence.” (Trouble Shooter)
Response: Have you actually read his complaint? There is no evidence there to support his allegations and many of his allegations have been debunked. A good resource on this is at www.whatsyourevidence.com. While that site still has not addressed all the allegations Berg raises, it has addressed many of them – and shown that those are generally baseless.
***When you add the question of Stanley visiting a friend, who was puzzled that she came with Barak, a newborn, stated that she would not have been coming from Hawaii, but returning to Hawaii, ...***
Response: What are you talking about and what is your evidence? Berg certainly has cited no such evidence.
***to what is out there on the Birth Certificate ***
Response: If you mean the claims re: forgery, made by anonymous posters/bloggers, well then, (a) one of the two has since disappeared after being outed as a fraud. On this issue, the remaining “expert” – Polarik – was one of the people “outing” the other person as a fraud. As for Polarik’s analysis, several people – including experts who use their REAL NAMES - have rather convincingly debunked this anonymous blogger’s contentions.
***and using an Indonesian Passport to go to Pakistan, ***
Response: What is your evidence on this? The reports on the web all stem from an original report of “I heard someone found evidence that…” – with NO back up (or follow-up) evidence to support the claim. (The accompanying allegations – that it was impossible to travel to Pakistan on a US passport at the time – have similarly been debunked.)
*** This issue would be very easily cleared up if Obama would provide a certified copy of his birth certificate to the court. If he does, and it is shown to be authentic, then it would seem that the matter is closed.***
Response: Re: this comment, and all the similar comments—-
The thing is, just as websites can “say anything” - people can reject official declarations and legal conclusions regarding any issue. But - we have to have some “final arbiter” of the facts. Under the federal rules of evidence (which apply in Berg’s case), the government agency responsible for a given document’s production and storage is the “final arbiter” of whether a document purportedly produced by that Agency is, in fact, authentic. Stated another way, the document can be authenticated by an affidavit of a representative of the state agency, confirming its authenticity.
In this regard. regarding Obama’s COLB,
(a) the Hawaii Department of Health is the governmental body responsible for producing and retaining/storing birth certificates in that state; and
(b) the Hawaii DOH has confirmed—multiple times now—that the COLB provided by Obama’s campaign is authentic. (See www.whatsyourevidence.com for links on this.)
*** If, however, he does not, or otherwise tries to delay the case, then it would appear that something was afoot. ***
Response: Obama in all likelihood will do exactly what McCain did in Hollander v. McCain (New Hampshire) and Robinson v. McCain et al (California): He will allege that Berg does not have standing to sue. This is not “dodging the question” any more than McCain’s actions were dodging the questions re: his citizenship. This is the appropriate response. And, just as the two courts did in the McCain cases, the Berg Court will dismiss this case.
*** And why up to this day there has been no mention in the Main Stream News Media of the case nor in any other news media. It looks like every body is covering Barack Obama!!! ***
One mainstream paper has covered it – the Washington Times, a notably conservative paper. It criticized the lawsuit. Even the World Net Daily (for whom J. Corsi writes!) has published at least one article on the lawsuit – debunking multiple claims in the complaint. For links to these articles and much more, see www.whatsyourevidence.com.
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Tes
Sep 19, 2008 7:45 PM CST
PS—-
Re: “I read that he might have been borne in two different hospitals in HI and neither hospital offered any data or status of his birth such his weight and lenght. Borne in to different hospitals???”
Response: You read that, I’m sure, from the claims that the Italian Wikipedia stated one hospital and the English Wikipedia stated another hospital. A couple points on that:
(a) Wikipedia content can be created by anyone and, thus, is frequently incorrect. What’s important is to check the citations cited for the statements.
(b) It is true that at one point, the Italian Wikipedia stated Obama was born in “Queens” hospital, while the English version stated that Obama was born in Kapi’olani hospital. However, both articles cited the same source: An excerpt from Obama’s book, Dreams of My Father **which didn’t address that issue at all.** .
(c) “Kapi’olani” **means** “Queen’s Consort” - which may explain the mistranslation into Italian
(d) Since the complaint was filed, both the Italian and the English versions have been modified multiple times. Neither one cite Dreams of My Father anymore. The Italian version now (at least until it changes again) states that Obama was born in Kapi’olani Hospital. The English version doesn’t include a hospital.
(e) You can easily go in and change both back if you’re interested. Anyone who creates an account can modify text.
Again – see www.whatsyourevidence.com for more – like info on that “mysterious” Canadian Birth Certificate, and things like that!
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